Back
Curious Questions from Curious Minds!
Welcome to Curiopedia, where imagination and discovery take shape! Discover something new today with these curious questions from children. Click on the ‘View Answer’ button to find out the answer! If you want your (child’s) curious question answered and featured here, submit it now.
Month Year
-
Time to guffaw together
Why is laughter infectious?
Sameera Fathima , Hyderabad, Telangana
View AnswerResearch has shown that the mere sound of a giggle tickles the same area of the listener's brain that is activated when smiling. The brain's response helps to prepare the facial muscles for a good hearty laugh. Research shows that the laughter-triggering mechanism in the human brain is automatic — that people are essentially unable to control the impulse to smile or laugh when they hear pleasant sounds. Humans are known to mirror the habits or emotions of those around them, and the contagiousness of a good or bad mood is well-known. The contagious nature of laughter may have played an important role in early social interactions. Scientists think laughter may have been a precursor to language and that our ancestors may have laughed to show they were friendly and meant no harm to other groups
-
When it strikes
How is lightning caused?
Viswanath P Nair , Vadakkencherry, Kerala
View AnswerWhen the ground is extremely hot, it heats the air above it. The warm air rises as water vapour, cools and forms a cloud. As the air continues to rise, the cloud gets bigger. On top of the clouds, the temperature is below freezing pointand the water vapour turns into ice, colliding and causing the clouds to fill up with electrical charges. These charges are either positive or negative charged. When these charges grow large enough, a giant spark — lightning — occurs.
-
When one equals twelve
Why is one year on Jupiter equal to 12 years on earth?
Tejashree , Bidar, Karnataka
View AnswerJupiter is so big that all the other planets in the solar system could fit inside it. More than 1,300 earths would fit inside Jupiter. Jupiter rotates faster than any other planet. While earth takes almost 24 hours to spin once, Jupiter takes only 10. So a day on Jupiter is about 10 hours long. But it is so far from the sun that Jupiter takes 12 earth years to make one trip around the sun. That means one year on Jupiter is 12 years on Earth.
-
Stop ’em hiccups
Why do hiccups stop as soon as we drink water?
Aftab M Sajid , Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
View AnswerHiccups are caused by an involuntary contraction of the diaphragm. It could be because of indigestion, gas or acidity in the stomach or eating too quickly. A glass of cold water helps in stopping the irritation caused in the diaphragm and thereby helps in regularising the movement.